Shark week on Delmarva 6/25/2015

What an interesting day it was. Left the Assawomen Canal where the water temp was 86 degrees in places. Ran the shore line and picked up 3 dozen hard crabs while waiting for the minnow trap to fill up. A lot of skates up in the shallows. Also seeing quite a few Drum in the flats, as well.  They love crabs as much as I do.

Headed south to Route 90 where the water temperature dropped to 70 then 68 as I arrived out front of Hooper's where I stopped to get a couple clams for bait. Little did I know a 12' Hammerhead would swim at that location 2 hours later. I've swam with Bull Sharks and Barracudas, but you could see them easily. It would have been a bit unnerving to have that shark bump your legs in 4' of water. I've yet to hear if she returned to the Ocean. I heard she was out in the Ocean at 33rd street about 8;00 in the morning and in the Stinky Beach area around lunch. I got a few pictures of her just south of the Thoroughfare where DNR appeared to be corralling her back toward the OC Inlet. I've caught 2 small Hammerheads in the bay over the past years so maybe she was in the bay to give birth.  It didn't appear that way, as they typically use the low profile aspect.  It was great that this wasn't blown out of proportion with the "kill everything" mentality some of the people have. If the general public was aware of everything that swims in our inland water ways they wouldn't allow their big toe in the water.

Back in the early 70's I fished with an older Captain out of Indian River.  He would take us out in front of Sea Colony, Trout fishing. When we  would catch a small Sand Shark the Captain would break its back and throw it beside the boat.  They would stay on top the water and, in seconds, bigger sharks would viciously attack.  Although cruel, it was the wildest thing to see, Mother nature can be a bit nasty at times.

Well the fishing was great that day even with the "rogue killer" swimming around. I ended the day with 8 Flounder, 2 of which were keeper's, 3 Bluefish, and 1 small Seabass. All were caught on cut Bluefish and Shiner's.



                       "Mom!  Mom!  What is that thing?!"

Good time to go floundering 5/16/2015

Went fishing again yesterday and glad I did. Started out by setting my minnow trap. While waiting for minnows, I ran the shoreline looking for crabs.  In an hours time I caught 36 hard crabs, 8 peelers, and 3 nice soft crabs. Wow, the crabbing is good! The water in the little Assawoman was 83 degrees. Went and retrieved my minnow trap and again had some of nicest minnows I've caught in years. When I went to pick up my trap, I saw a school of Red Drum up in the shallows. They better not be eating my crabs, but I'm sure they are.

Headed south and the Blue Fish were again schooled up around the Route 90 Bridge, birds working heavy, Stopped and caught 2, kept 1 to use as flounder bait. Cut up in strips like you do squid.  I like to use a piece about an inch long on a plain hook, no jewelry, no beads, just bare. I've caught flounder like that when nothing else works. I've fished in Northern Jersey a couple of times and all they use is Mackerel strips and it works.

Ventured south to the OC Airport and the water was clear, but a little chilly at 65 degrees. Something must have been right because in 2 hours I caught 10 flounder with the biggest at 22"s.  Had a real nice fish beside the boat when my reel fell off the rod and I lost him.  This only happens to me, right?!  Oh well. Out of the 10, 3 were keepers and the rest were small.  Released all but one which made for a fine dinner last night with the soft and hard crabs.

As usual the wind started howling and the fish stopped biting.  Good time to go floundering!  Just remember keep that bait on the bottom.  That's why I don't like to use the conventional top/bottom rig.  If you don't let a lot of line out on them the top hook isn't as effective. The new 2 hook rig that I made and I've been using, so far is working.  I'm  catching as many on the top as I am on the bottom. The sinker is out front with the hooks trailing, There's a picture on my blog.

Ocean City Air Show 6/13/2015

Put the boat in the water Saturday morning for a day of clamming and watching the Airshow.  What a great thing Ocean City does putting on such a wonderful show. We met with our kids, their better halves our granddogs, and a few friends at the sand bar out front of Hooper's Crab House. The tide really worked out well for us, being low for most of the afternoon. That made it  really nice as we set up our awning that we use for craft fairs on the sand bar.



Clammed on and off during the show and had about 500 clams to show for our efforts.  After sorting through, brought home 100 of the really nice ones. That place is loaded this year even with the amount of clamming pressure it gets.


The Airshow was fantastic.  The best I've seen. It was great to see everyone on the Island having a wonderful time. It's great to see everybody on the water and in the water in such a good mood and enjoying the day. It's funny, but I'll bet there were 20 dogs on the Island with no conflicts and they, as well, had a fabulous day, I'm sure they slept well
that night. I know I did.






Isn't it great to enjoy such living as we do down here?
Stopped at Hooper's on the way out and had a great dinner!
Thanks, G-Man!!

Flounder are bitin' 6/12/2015

Boy what a hot one it was.  So I thought "Wouldn't it be great to go and bake in the sun?".  It was still a great day to be out on the water.  Crabbed in my usual spots and caught a couple dozen pretty hard crabs and six peelers.  Ventured south and set out my minnow trap in the canal just north of the route 90 bridge on the east side. By the time I cut up a box of squid, I had a trap full of the largest minnows that I've ever seen. Well, if the fish aren't biting, I'll just filet the minnows up. Ha ha!

Headed south where south of the route 90 bridge the birds were working over a school of Blue Fish. Stopped, caught a bunch, and released them to fight another day. They were anywhere from 3 to 5 lbs and a lot of fun to catch on my light St Croix rods. The tide was high and getting ready to change so I anchored up in the OC Inlet and caught a 31" Striper on peelers.  Released it and lost a second fish.

After the tide starting running too fast in the Inlet to fish, I ran down behind the OC Airport where I caught and released 4 Flounder, They were all too small, but it was nice to see the water was finally getting right for Flounder. The surface down there was churned up with skates.

I caught all the Flounder on a new rig that I've been building. There's a picture on the blog if you are interested. I sell them for 2/$5.  Drop me a line through the Crafty Crabs link or here on the blog and I'll send them out. Just let me know what color hair and what size trolling weight. I set them up with a minnow/shiner and a long piece of squid on each hook.  Jig it up and down off the bottom and it looks like two bait fish following each other and won't tangle like typical top/bottom rigs.


When I got home that afternoon, we steamed up the crabs.  Man, they were full and delicious.

Croakers are here

It's Wednesday the 10th of June and I got the opportunity to crab and fish today. I put in down on the Assawoman Canal where the water was a balmy 82 degrees. Ran the shore banks for about an hour and caught 32 keeper hard crabs and 4 peelers. Saw quite a few 2" Needlefish in the shallows which, in past years, mean the spot should be there. A DNR agent told me years ago that Stripers love to eat Needlefish.  I caught Needlefish in the fall that were 6" long with a throw net, should have tried them for Striper but I was always Tog fishing.

Ran down to the OC Inlet and fished with peelers for a couple hours. Caught 1 Tog @ 16", 2 small Croakers, and 2 Blue Fish about 4 lbs each. The tide was running out strong and was very dirty so didn't even try Flounder fishing.

Fishin' in the storm 6/6/2015

 Good morning, this morning, on this fine and lovely morning.  That's what my grandfather would say every morning.  A long week of rain, wind and boredom.  Wonderful forecast for Saturday.  First stop, dipping crabs off the shore bank. The water had cooled off at 65 degrees in the Little Assawoman. Was very surprised when I found a lot of crabs and some pretty ones.   Managed to catch 2 dozen hard crabs, two nice softies, and seven peelers. The wind was blowing at 5 to 10 out of the northwest.  Ok, not bad.

Headed south to route 90, stopped and caught some big bull minnows. Now I'm ready to flounder fish. The water at route 90 bridge was still about 65 and clean.  Wow this is going to be a great day fishing. So I thought.  As I approached route 50, I noticed it sure was getting dark.  Weird, no rain in the forecast.  That' s strange.  Everybody is heading in.  Must have  slammed 'em.  Ha!  Then the sky opened up.  I would have stayed drier if I had fallen in the water.  Rain, thunder, and heavy winds.  It was a nasty little storm.  Well, still nice to get out.

Did see Big Bird Cropper and his neighbor, Dave, land 4 small stripers before the typhoon hit. One thing for sure, if and when this weather clears up there should be a few flounder to be caught. Remember to just let a couple go.  Thanks. Going to try to fish a few days next week so wish me luck.

Nice crabs and clams 5/26/2015

It's been a long 2 weeks since I've been out on the water. The wind just won't stop blowing. I put in down on the Assawoman canal and headed out to the little Assawoman bay. The water has risen to 78 degrees. Wow! I ran the shore line; my favorite way to crab. Lots of little crabs.  What a great sign.
In about an hour I caught two dozen keepers and four peelers for bait. Took a ride down to OC where the tide was way out and the water was filthy, but very warm at 72 degrees. Other than the commercial crabbers there were very few fisherman. With the tide so low, I decided to stop and clam north of Hoopers Crab House. With no clam rack, I still managed to dig 4 dozen nice clams in about an hour just using my feet. Afterwards I took a ride out in the Inlet where it was loaded with Clear Nosed Skates. It looked like I was being circled by shark fins.  It was pretty cool. Wish I would of thought to get a picture. Didn't fish with the water being so dirty and called it a day after that.

 My daughter-in-law and daughter do Arts and Crafts shows under the name Crafty Crabs. They had a show in Oceanview, Delaware on Saturday, 5/30/2015, at the Good Earth Market and Birch Tree Cafe.  My wife and I helped out. It was a great show, and we sold a lot of nice stuff including quite a few of the fishing rigs that I build. You can see a picture of them on our blog. We sell them at Ike and Vinas Bait and Tackle down near Holts Landing or @ our Etsy Site . They sell for 2 for 5 dollars and we will ship them to you. Apparently, we sold enough that the girls took us Sunday to Hoopers Crab House where the service and crabs were outstanding. The crabs were big and full.  It tasted like they are steaming their crabs and shrimp in some type of butter brine that was out of this world. Amanda, our server, took great care of us and when the 6 of us get together to eat crabs we keep our server running.

Should start fishing a lot more starting the first week in June so I'll keep you informed on whats going on in OC as well as Indian River.